Over the last several years, questions related to the safety, effectiveness and proper use of vaccines have generated an extremely heated and polarized international public debate. In turn, this has stimulated discourse around a number of broader ethical issues related to international health care delivery such as access to health care, as well as balancing personal/cultural freedom and public health. The forces behind the polarized vaccine debate are complex, involving many players including the media, funding agencies, corporations and the scientific/academic community itself (and made more complex by the influx of fraudulent information about vaccine safety). All of this complexity generates anxiety that hinders society’s ability to have a reasoned, rational and respectful discussion around vaccines. Art/creative research has the potential to play an important role in helping to foster a more nuanced discourse around vaccines by articulating elusive or emotionally charged issues in ways that other forms of communication often cannot.